A lady came to
counsel with me and told me, with tears in her eyes, “My husband and I have
been married for one year, and now he has been told he has just six months to
live. Why?”

After I had
preached in a distant city, a pastor came to me and told me that his son had
been killed in an automobile accident.
The pastor said he had not been able to overcome the tragedy, and he
asked, “Why?”

Another pastor, a
godly man, told me he had just been fired from his church, and he asked, “Dr.
Gray, why?”

A few years ago, my
son, Scott, and his wife, Jenny, went to the hospital so she could give birth
to their new baby. They had been to the doctor a few days before, and
everything had been fine. However, when they arrived at the hospital, the
doctor could find no heartbeat. Jennifer gave birth to a beautiful, stillborn
daughter, a granddaughter I will never meet until we are in Heaven. I found
myself asking, “Why?”

I can understand
our asking “Why?” but I cannot see Jesus asking “Why?” Yet, on Calvary He
cried, “My God, my God, why?”

It seems to me that
when I ask “Why?” my doubt is unveiled, but this cannot be true if
Jesus asked “Why?” This
was Deity talking to Deity, God Incarnate talking to the Creator of the
universe. This was God the Son talking to God the Father. Even Jesus looked up and asked, “My
God, my God, why?”

It is amazing that
even Jesus asked “Why?” Did Jesus doubt His Heavenly Father? Did God
the Son doubt God the Father? Was there a breach, a paradox?

The Question “Why” Tells Us
There Is an Answer

Stop and think
about it. The very fact that I asked my God “Why?” implies that I
know there is One who has the answer. I would not ask if I did not think there
was an answer. This does not indicate doubt; it actually indicates faith. When
you ask why, you imply you have confidence that there is Someone who knows the
answer. Jesus did not doubt; He was simply saying there is Someone who has the
answer.

Jesus tells the
lonely widow there is Someone who has the answer. He tells the abandoned husband there is Someone who has the
answer. He tells the sick there is
Someone who has the answer. He tells the cancer patient there is Someone who
has the answer. He tells the child
who is mourning the loss of a parent that Someone has the answer. He tells the
broken-hearted pastor, whose staff has turned on him, that Someone has the answer.
He tells the jobless husband, Someone has the answer. He tells the single mother, Someone has the answer. He tells
the child abandoned by his father that Someone has the answer.

When you ask why,
you are implying Someone has the answer. You would not ask unless you thought
someone had the answer.

There is a God in
Heaven Who loves you. If you are stricken with illness, God in Heaven loves
you. If you come from a broken home, God in Heaven loves you. If you have lost your job, God in
Heaven loves you. He knows the
answer, and He allows us to ask “Why?”

We were broken-hearted as I performed
the funeral for our stillborn granddaughter. Scott and Jenny had bought the
bassinet, the clothing, the little socks, the blankets, and then the baby was
gone. It is hard to imagine the grief until you have felt the same pain. I felt
guilty about asking why, until I read this verse. When I realized even Jesus
looked up to Heaven and asked, “My God, my God, why?” I did not feel so guilty.
I realized that, instead of living in the land of doubt, I was really living in
the land of faith, because I realized I had a Heavenly Father Who has the
answer.

No matter what you
are facing, it is alright for you to ask why. It is alright for you to cry, “My God, my God, why?” Do not feel guilty for asking. You are just saying that Someone has
the answer, and you are asking Him.
You are not going to your friends, you are not going to your spouse; you
are going to God Almighty and asking “Why?”

You may never know
the answer. Our minds cannot comprehend the effects of the things that happen
in our lives. Even if God were to
tell me the answer, I do not speak the heavenly language, and I would not
understand His reasons. I can
trust that God knows the reason and it is alright to ask why. We do not need to
know the answer; we just need to know there is an answer. As long as I know
there is a reason, I can keep on going.

The Question “Why” Tells Us We Do Not Have the Answer

When I ask why, I
am saying I do not have the answer, and I need God. I need to wake up every
morning and read my Bible. I need to be faithful to church. I need to win souls. There is no reason
for me to quit.

The Question “Why” Says the God, Who Has the Answer, Wants
My Presence

God allows things to
happen in my life because He wants my presence. When He took our granddaughter from us and put her in
Heaven, He drew us toward Heaven.
He did not drive us away. When we have gone through other difficult
times in our lives, those times have drawn us closer to God.

When God takes
something from us, He wants to bring us closer to Him. When Jesus cried, “My God, my God,
why?”, He was being drawn to the Father Who had the answer. He was drawn to the
One He needed. When God allows a
tragedy in our lives, He is simply trying to bring us closer to Him.

Do not feel guilty
for asking why. Just make sure you ask the One who has the answer. Ask with confidence because God has the
answer. Hold your head up high
because even Jesus asked “Why?”